Friends in First (Back to School Pack)

  I am so excited to share my Back to School packet with you all! I have LOVED creating the activities for this packet. The beginning of the school year is such a fun and magical time for first graders (and for teachers, as well!). It is an important time to establish routines and make new friendships! In this packet, you’ll find all kinds of goodies to help make the beginning of the year a special and memorable one for your students. Your students will have a blast learning the rules of school with the help of the members of The First Grade Expert Club (Respectful Rachel, Responsible Ryan, Ready to Learn Robert, and Really Safe Rita).

Each member of the club has a special role to share. They explain the importance of their roles in this catchy little story.

After students learn and practice the rules of school, they have the chance to apply to be a new member of the club.

If The First Grade Experts approve (wink, wink!), then all students will participate in an induction ceremony where they will get to create a fun craft and receive a special certificate.

In this packet, you’ll also find “All About Me” activities, “Getting to Know You” ice-breakers and games, and lots of printables (and lesson ideas) that correlate with many of your student’s favorite back-to-school books. One of my favorite “ice-breaker” activities in my packet is “Be a Friend Detective.” For this activity, students fill out clues about themselves (example: “I have brown hair” or “I have green eyes”). You tell them NOT to put their names on their paper (or else it will spoil all the fun!). Then, you collect each paper and pass them to out to a different student and have them all become friend detectives by using the clues figure out their mystery classmate. Your kids will LOVE THIS!

Here are a few of the activities that correlate with some classic back-to-school books. One book that I especially love is First Grade Stinks. The little girl in the story, Hayley, really thinks first grade stinks because it’s different than kindergarten. This is an excellent book to use to compare and contrast kindergarten to first grade. Your students will LOVE thinking of reasons why first grade DOES NOT stink.

The activities mentioned above (and everything you see in my Preview) can be purchased at my TPT store and my TN store.